


Max Gets Sick

by IncaSisters



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Friendship, Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Max being a cute little shit, Max is my son and must be protected at all cost, MomGwen cuz people don't see the potential she has, Nikki is amazing, dadvid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-07-28 17:44:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16246643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncaSisters/pseuds/IncaSisters
Summary: Max gets sick after an unfortunate event caused by Neil and his experiment. It's a cute story! :) Also I suck at writing summaries... There is some cursing because... Max, but nothing too explicit. Enjoy!





	1. Neils Experiment

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Everyone! This is my first story on this platform, and so I know there might be some errors. This story is also on FF.net, so yeah, just an FYI. Now without any further ado... Happy Reads!

Neil was in Camp Campbell's poor excuse for a lab, he had spent hours on end working on different formulas and connections to test out, which 5 out of 10 led to failures. It was his latest formula that successfully made it to the end… until Nikki came in. Now don't get Neil wrong, he liked Nikki, she was good company, someone to brag and rant to while focusing on the task at hand. But today was different, today for some reason beyond Neil's comprehension….. Nikki thought it was a good idea to have a little taste test. Neil hesitantly agreed to let her have a little sip, but she gulped it down leaving Neil with an empty beaker.

"NIKKI! NO! WHAT DID YOU DO?" Neil grabbed the beaker from Nikki.

"Uh, I drank your potion silly!" Nikki smiled and stuck out her tongue, "Look, now my tongue is blue… hmmm, it's not permanent… right, Neil?"

Neil looked at her tongue and poked it with a stick, "I don't think so… but you know… you might wanna go vomit or something… before you die."

Nikki thought about it for a moment, before shaking her head and running towards the Camp tents. Neil looked at the mess he left from his nonexistent experiment that is now sitting in Nikki's stomach. "Fuck… now I have to start all over again. Thanks a lot, Nikki." After a couple of hours, Neil had reproduced his potion… tweaking the formula a bit. He tested it on a dead bug and found that it brought it back to life... kinda. Upon his realization, he felt the need to tell someone. "Not Nikki though… she'll drink it again. Max won't really care, and everyone else is… unimportant to me. Hmmmmmmmmm"

"Quartermaster LOOK! I made something really cool but no one here appreciates my scientific genius. This can literally cause some groundbreaking work that would spice up the entire FUCKING scientific system!" Neil jumped up and placed a beaker on top of the countertop. He swirled it and admired it. "I have no idea what it does but I added many different compatible elements designed to cure just about anything! I wanted to know what you thought about it, I would ask Nikki but- HEY! Are you listening?"

"Nope" The QuarterMaster didn't take his eyes off his food.

"Ugh, you know what… nevermind. I'm going to get something out of the lab, don't let anyone come near it. It's too valuable for it to be destroyed again." Neil ran out of the mess hall and into the science camp, or well, the little station he set up.

The quartermaster was left alone in the kitchen, not taking his eyes off the food he was preparing. Unknowingly, he grabbed the bottle left aside by Neil and mixed it in his mash potatoes. He saw Neil come back with a bunch of smaller beakers and a case.

"Okay, so, if I can ration this correctly, it shouldn't be a problem having people buy it… even though I have no idea what it does… but that doesn't matter!" He looked around the counter and saw the empty beaker, "Ummmmmmmmmm… wait where….", Neil began to frantically search for his beaker. "Uh, okay… wow… please don't tell me you grabbed it."

"Grabbed what?"

"The fucking solution. My masterpiece… you… wait... I… wow…" Neil began to panic… he literally just lost his solution… for the second time.

"Boy if you don't calm down… you sound like you're having a stroke" The quartermaster turned towards Neil and handed him the empty bottle, "Is this what you were talking about?"

"WHAT? YOU DRANK IT?"

"No"

"So then… WHERE IS IT!?"

"Oh, I have no idea… probably in the mash potatoes…." He began serving the food into the bowls and placing them onto the serving area. Apparently not caring that he might have poisoned the entire meal.

"Wait… you can't serve that. You'll kill the entire camp!" Neil began grabbing the plates and throwing the contents away.

"So?" The Quartermaster watched Neil and placed his good hand in front of him, causing him to stop moving.

"DUDE!" Neil stopped grabbing the bowls, "Make new ones!" Neil angrily walked out of the kitchen and back out into his lab.

"Ugh… I don't get paid enough for this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for actually reading this, I know this chapter is kinda short, but don't worry it'll get lengthy. We will probably update this once a week... give or take... :) Thank you guys so much and see you next time! Reviews and Comments are welcomed!


	2. Tree Climbing

"I'm so fucking hungry…" Max was walking in with Nikki and Neil. The mess hall was already serving food when they walked in. The other campers eating and enjoying their food. The trio walked over to the food area and they grabbed their lunches and sat down.

" Wow….. We have editable food for once, not very good, but editable" Max picked up his spoon and stuck it in his mash sloshed it around and placed it in his mouth.

"Not mine, mine was delish! And it's editable!" Nikki stuffed a mouthful in her mouth. Nikki could eat just about anything if she put her mind to it. There were no limits when it came to Nikki and her food.

"Nikki, You think everything is good, you said tide pods were good! You literally can put anything in your mouth and say its good!" Max looked at Nikki, looked away and started to eat. Max wasn't one to complain though, he was just happy he had food on the table. Camp was one of the only places he could eat, knowing there would be a next time.

"Yeah well, that's not the only thing you thought was good..." Neil mumbled angrily to himself while playing around with his mash potatoes. Max turned to him with a concerned yet surprised look on his face. "No, that's not what I meant" Neil felt his face turn red with embarrassment, "Stop. No. I didn't mean it that way… sheesh nasty."

"Sure Neil, you choose the exact fucking moment to make a comment like that..." Max had a smug smile on his face as he ate his mash potatoes. He turned his attention towards Nikki, who was licking the plate."Nikki, Jesus, slow down, we literally just sat down and you've already inhaled your food… what the fuck?"

"Yeah… these potatoes are GOOOODDDDD" Nikki practically engulfed her food.

"No… these taste shittier than usual." Max placed another spoonful in his mouth.

"Oh shut it, Max. At least I finish my food"

"What?"

"You just 'save it for later'" Nikki imitated Max's voice, which Max found both funny and weird.

"I don't sound like that, and yeah, you never know when you need an emergency meal." Max didn't think she remembered that. During the first few weeks of camp, Max would save his food and hide it in his tent, just in case he got hungry later, or he didn't have anything to eat. It was a habit he picked up at home since it was a miracle if he was fed. When he first arrived at camp, it took him a while for him to break that habit, he never knew Nikki noticed.

"Whatever." Nikki went back to eating her food… or whatever was left of it.

"I mean, it's good considering it was made last minute…" Neil said as he watched Nikki eat off his plate.

"Isn't everything in this fucking hellhole made last minute?" Max watched as Nikki ate food that wasn't even on her plate.

"Yeah." Neil finished up the rest of this food and placed it in the sink, then walked back towards the table.

Max finished his food and began to stand up to go place his food onto the sink, but then he saw Neil walk back and had a better idea. "Hey Neil, you wanna do me a favor?" Max looked at Neil innocently.

"What?"

"Here take my plate to the sink." Max slid the plate over to Neil. He laughed and pulled on Nikki's overall straps. "Come on Nikki, let's go set the forest on fire."

"YES!" Nikki ran with Max towards the door, "Neil! TAKE MY PLATE TOO PLEASE!"

"WHAT? WAIT!" Neil looked at the table and noticed how dirty and nasty it was, so now he was left with the cleaning chores. "COME BACK!"

"LOVE YOU, Neil!" Max and Nikki ran out into the forest.

Neil mumbled under his breath how annoying it is to having to clean up after them and how they always leave him to behind to clean up their mess. He didn't really mind, half the things Nikki and Max did were beyond his tolerance, sometimes he just liked watching them cause chaos. It was funny seeing David try to keep his composure. Plus, they were his friends, and this was all in good fun. Right?

Once Neil finished, he went outside and caught up with Max and Nikki. He couldn't find them until he heard rustling from the tree above. He looked up and he saw Max and Nikki, climbing to the very top of the tree.

In the tree, Max climbed and found a spot he could rest on. He ripped off the stray left and sat on a small branch. He looked down and called over to Nikki, "NIKKI GET THE FUCKING GASOLINE!"

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET THE GASOLINE FROM UP HERE!" Nikki was right behind him. Max turned around and almost fell out of the tree in surprise.

"NIKKI! You fucking FOLLOWED me?" Max looked down and noticed that they were stuck in the tree together… Nikki was supposed to be the one to guide him down, he should have known Nikki would pull something like this.

"Yeah." Nikki stroked a branch and climbed closer to Max

"Why?"

"I don't know, I like trees… if I could adopt this forest… I would." She hugged the tree branch and practically laid down.

"Well that kinda sucks" Max looked at Nikki and smirked, he saw Neil standing under the tree looking up at them

"Why?"

"Because it's about to burn down" Max looked over to Neil, "HEY NEIL! YOU SEE THAT GASOLINE THING? POUR IT ON THE TREE!"

"I'M NOT POURING GASOLINE ON THE TREE MAX!" Neil looked up at Max and Nikki, "YOU GUYS ARE UP AWFULLY HIGH… HOW ARE YOU GUYS GONNA GET DOWN?"

Nikki and Max exchanged looks, Nikki looked down and then looked back up at Max, "Ugh, I guess we can jump!" Nikki pushed herself off but Max quickly caught her by her overall straps.

"NO! You are not jumping off! You'll crack your fucking skull open you, idiot." Max looked down and realized that Neil had a point. "What if we ask someone to throw a rope or something, maybe Neil could-"

"DAVIDDDDDDDDDD WE ARE STUCK IN A TREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Nikki shouted so loud, the animals in the tree probably committed suicide.

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST NIKKI! The FUCK was that for?" Max looked down and noticed Neil was gone. "Shit, our only hope of survival fucking bailed… You scared him away Nik… dammit."

"No, I didn't, he's right there." Nikki pointed to Neil coming back with a worried David and an annoyed Gwen.

"Oh shit." It wasn't that Max didn't appreciate their help, he just didn't appreciate it. He would rather commit suicide along with the other animals that heard Nikki scream than get rescued by David.

David and Gwen looked up into the tree and spotted them, "ARE YOU KIDS OKAY?" David stepped closer to the tree.

"FUCK YOU DAVID" Max sounded annoyed, he looked down and saw Gwen smile, "WHY ARE YOU SMILING? DO YOU LIKE SEEING KIDS IN DANGER?"

"No...I LIKE SEEING YOU IN DANGER" Gwen laughed, "Seriously though, how did you guys get up there?"

"WE CLIMBED! HOW ELSE WOULD WE GET UP HERE! USE YOUR BRAIN"

"NO SHIT YA LITTLE SHIT! BUT WHY?" Gwen sighed and rolled her eyes. She looked over to David, "We could catch them… how much you think two 10-year-olds weigh?"

"Uh, It doesn't matter, as long as they get down safely right?" David glanced nervously at Gwen and then focused his attention back on the two kids in the tree, "Okay, " He took a breath, "ON THE COUNT OF THREE, JUMP!"

Max grabbed on to Nikki's overall straps and looked down, "okay Nikki, so on the count of three-"

"THREE!" Nikki jumped off without any warning, dragging Max with her.

"NO NIKKI! YOU IDIOT" Three seconds later Max was in someone's arms, David's arms to be exact, and so was Nikki

"What were you guys doing up there?"

Nikki smiled and pointed towards the potential dangers of their plans, "Well, we totally weren't gonna set the forest on fire with that gasoline bottle over there and that lighter over there next to it."

"Nikki, SHUT UP"

"Oh." Nikki jumped out Davids' arms and ran towards the tree, she gave it a hug and went back to the tent area where all the other campers were.

"Uh, So, are they in trouble?" Neil was sitting next to Gwen, who was picking up the gas and lighters.

"No Neil, They aren't in trouble, but we have to talk to them just cuz by law… we need to 'keep your kids safe'" Gwen threw the gas and lighters into the storage. She walked back towards David and smiled. "So Max… planning of getting out of Davids' arms?"

"Huh?" Max jump out and fell, got up and turned towards Gwen, "Fuck you bitch"

"Love you too little shit" Gwen and David walked back into the cabin, leaving Max with Neil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, I know, I know, my chapter titles are lame, I honestly tell myself I need to fix them but here I am... not fixing them... oh well!


	3. Nikki sleeps Over

They walked back into the tent area and joined Nikki and the other campers. Neil had the biggest smile on his face, "Why did you climb the tree in the first place?" he said holding back a laugh.

"Huh" Max looked over to Neil and furrowed his brow, "What are you talking about?"

"Like, when do you climb trees? You should have just let Nikki do it you know… She's the tree climber."

Max thought about it and realized Neil was right… why did he climb that tree? "Shut up Neil."

"No, I'm right… you don't know how to climb trees" Neil was finally laughing, "and you call me the idiot, tragic."

"Okay, so what? I didn't cross my mind before, and thinking about it now won't make a fucking difference, so shhhhh" Max knew Neil had a point, but he wasn't gonna let him know that. "Also, I've never called you an idiot… more like 'nerd'." Max smirked.

Neil laughed, "HA! Exactly!"

"Shut up Neil."

"'sHuT uP nEiL' no no no," Neil imitated Max and continues laughing, "I'm so right!"

It was getting late, and all the campers began to head in for the night. Max went inside the tent and Neil followed. They each changed into their clothes and sat down. Max was smoothing out the blankets on his cot, making sure there weren't any bugs on it or anything. It's happened before and it scared the living shit out of him. Once he declared his cot safe, he sat down and removed his hoodie. He looked back up to see Neil staring at him, "What?"

"Huh?" Neil realized he was staring and looked away.

"Dude… you're staring… stop it."

"Oh, yeah no sorry… it's just…"

"Are you gay?" Max looked at him questionably. He always had a suspicion, but assuming is wrong and maybe Neil is just naturally… well, Neil.

"What no!" Neil was caught off guard

"Are you dying?" Max tilted his head and squinted his eyes

"Ummm no…"

"Then stop staring at me like you have something important to say, but are too pussy to say it."

Neil rolled his eyes, "fine…" He looked at Max, " do you not have pajamas?"

Max was expecting to hear something serious, something important, something beneficial… so he definitely was not expecting to hear the question that just came out of Neils' mouth. "Really? That's why you were staring at me? Because I don't have some fucking pajamas?" Max rolled his eyes, and sighed, "Neil… we have been sleeping together for the past month now… you just now noticed?"

"Well, I thought that maybe you were shy to change around other people or something."

"Nah, I just don't have any, All I have is the camp shirt and like, the 5 same exact sweaters my parents send me. I travel light." Max was lying… sure, his parents sent him sweaters every year, but he didn't really have a choice about light traveling. His parents just drop him off with whatever he has time to bring. Which isn't much.

"Oh."

Soon after that very awkward conversation, Nikki came in and made herself at home in the tent. "So hey guys, I'm sleeping here tonight." She came in the tent with a pillow and a jacket. She threw the pillow on the ground between the two beds and sat down. She looked at the two boys, "Oooo, I'm sensing some…. tension… you guys okay?"

"Yes, and gosh Nikki, you can't just walk in like that… what if we were changing?" Neil covered himself to prove a point but Nikki paid no attention.

"Nah, it doesn't matter to me." She laid down and placed her hands behind her head.

"Well, it matters to me!"

Nikki smiled and rolled her eyes, "Anyways, you guys might be wondering what I'm doing in your tent-"

"Yeah, we kinda fucking are" Max cut her off.

"I'm sleeping here because all the other girls are being lame. Also, I'm tired and goodnight."

Max looked over at Nikki, who threw herself onto the floor. That's what he liked about her, she had no filter and no problem being herself… it was refreshing. He looked down at her makeshift bed "Wait, you're just gonna sleep on the floor?"

"Where else am I supposed to sleep?"

Max looked over to Neil and Neil gave an approving glance, Neil turned towards Nikki, "Well, you can sleep with one of us if you like..."

"Yeah" Max added, "It beats the floor."

"Aw thank you guys, but I think I'll sleep on the floor, it's fine." Nikki covered herself with her jacket. She made herself comfortable and began to doze off.

They all slept peacefully through the night… except for Max.

The next morning couldn't come any sooner, it was Friday, a light day, they didn't really do much on Fridays or Saturday and Max was grateful. He had woken up with stomach pains and a slight dizziness. It wasn't something he couldn't handle, but it did bother him to the point where he didn't want to even get out of bed. He saw Nikki wake up.

"Good Morning Max." Nikki sat up and looked over at Max, who was laying down facing Nikki and Neil.

"Good Morning Nikki"

"Aw, look at little Neil… still sleeping like a baby" Nikki pointed over to Neil and smiled.

"A pretty ugly baby."

"Max! Don't be so mean!" Nikki laughed and got up. She straightened out her jacket and picked up her pillow from the ground. "Aw, my pillow has ants on it…. Maybe that's what was tickling down there."

Max didn't even want to know, he would have picked on Nikki's statements, but he wasn't in the mood. He just smiled.

"You look like you haven't slept in ages…" Nikki looked at max worriedly, "Did you even sleep last night?"

"Yep"

"Then why do you look like death himself?"

Max shrugged, he laid back down and looked at the tent roof. He was beginning to feel a headache form but he just thought it was Nikki, her talking early in the morning was pretty annoying, in a good way. He finally sat up and threw a pillow over to Nikki, "Here, you can have this pillow since your other one has ant's or some shit."

"Nah, I like my new ants."

"What?"

"Yeah, they are my friends now." Nikki had ants crawling all over her arms, "haha They are biting me…" She carefully placed them back in the dirt and they both looked over at Neil.

Neil was still asleep, and they didn't know whether to wake him up or not. They didn't want to be late for breakfast, so Nikki thought it was a good idea to wake him up. She walked over to Neil, "PPPSSSTTTTTT Neil…. Wake up" She gently placed her arm on Neils back and shook him slightly.

"That's not gonna work…" Max hopped out of his bed and went over to Neils bed. He climbed on and gestured over for Nikki to pass him his pillow. Nikki grabbed it and tossed it over to Max, who had a small smirk on his face. He began beating the shit out of the still sleeping Neil. "Neil…. WAKE. UP. YOU. FUCKING. NERD." Hitting him between each word. Neil woke up and tackled Max, who was definitely not expecting that to be his reaction.

"THE FUCK MAX!" Neil had pinned down Max onto his bed.

"Jesus, get the fuck off me, you skinny geek." Max Pushed himself away and got off his bed.

"Wow, who would have thought you were strong Neil?" Nikki watched Max get out from underneath, laughing at the sight in front of her.

"Nah, he isn't strong, I just wasn't expecting that reaction. Anyways, we had to wake up before you sleep in and miss breakfast." Max kinda dragged himself onto the floor and stood back up, fixing his hair in the process.

"Oh shit, what time is it?" Neil looked over to his alarm, it read '7:30', "Oh good, we have some time."

"Yeah," Nikki ran out of the tent and came back with a small backpack. Inside, was her stash of honey and some clothes. "Oo look, guys, while I was walking out with David couple days ago, to hike, I saw a beehive, and I smashed it to bits for…" She held up a honeycomb filled with honey, "this!" She looked at it like it was her prized possession, and in a sense, it was. "I thought we could eat some before breakfast…"

Neil looked at the dripping goodness in Nikki's hands and his mouth watered. "Yeah, Let's change first so we won't get our PJ's messy"

"Oh yeah, good Idea!" Nikki began undressing and taking out her clothes from her backpack.

"Nikki… I would like to remind you that... ummmm... we are right here." Max looked over at Neil who was also looking at Max with an unamused face.

"Oh right… oh well, it doesn't really matter, I have nothing to show off anyways." She quickly pulled her shirt over her head and clipped on her overalls. Once they were changed, Nikki began passing around a piece of honeycomb to Neil and Max.

Max took it and tasted it, it was sweet… too sweet, he placed it down on a napkin he stole and placed it on the dresser. He watched as Nikki and Neil ate and sucked on the sweet. "So, what do you think we're gonna do today? Cuz I don't wanna fucking do anything."

"True, but we know David… he's gonna wanna do something…" Nikki said through mouthfuls of honey.

"True." Max laid back down on his bed and closed his eyes.

"Max, you aren't gonna eat any honey?" Neil watched as Max rested on the bed.

"Nah, I'm not hungry. I'll eat it later." In reality, Max was starving, but just the thought of food made him want to gag. He wasn't gonna risk it.

About an hour passed and they headed down to the Mess hall. The other campers grabbed their plates and sat down. The trio walked up to the counter and each picked up their plates, they sat down in their usual spot and began eating. Max took a couple bites, here and there, but didn't eat as much as he usually does.

Gwen was walking around the mess hall as usual and watched as the kids ate. Each and every one of them testing her patience so early in the morning. "SPACE KID NO! WE'VE BEEN OVER THIS, GET OFF THE DAMN CEILING FAN!" At this point in her life, she just stopped caring about finding a better job. She looked around the rest of the room and noticed Max picking at his food, "Max, you aren't eating." She walked over to his table.

"Yes, good job Gwen… you have eyes." Max spoke in his same monotone voice as always.

"Lose the attitude you little piece of garbage."

"Nah." Max continued picking at his food.

Gwen rolled her eyes, "Max, eat your food, it's Friday, so the food isn't that bad. Plus, you need to eat."

"I'm not hungry." Max pushed the plate away and gave it to Nikki, who happily ate it. He placed his hands on his head and shrugged.

Gwen looked at Max and frowned, but she didn't say anything else, she walked towards David with a concerned look on her face. "Hey David, somethings wrong with Max...he's not eating"

"Uh, okay I'll check on him a bit later, I'm planning activities for today!" David was practically bubbling with excitement

"Okay," Gwen glanced at Max trying to figure out what is wrong with him. "But I think you should take some time and check on Max, he doesn't look too good."

David looked over at Max's table and looked at Max. "Yeah, I'll talk to him"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aren't my babies so freaking adorable???? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 
> 
> Wow, Three chapters, now we are all caught up and ready to roll! Like I said before (I think) I'll post at least once a week... It honestly just depends on how fast I get them done. Anyways, thank all you little shits for sticking around for these 3 chapters and I will see you all in a week! Happy Reads!


	4. The Shed Incident

David had planned out many different activities for today, he scheduled Archery and Hiking, in the morning, and in the afternoon, arts and crafts along with s'mores around the campfire. He was making sure they had all the materials ready for the day. "Hey Gwen, are the campers outside?"

Gwen nodded, "Yep, they're all waiting for you, they all finished eating."

"Good!" David walked outside and joined the other campers. They were all gathered around the front of the mess hall, each doing their own little thing. "GOOD MORNING HAPPY CAMPERS! I have something very excited planned for tonight and I just know you guys are gonna like it!"

"Are you sure about that David?" Max raised his hand and smiled, "cuz most of your surprises are ass"

"Max! Language! And of course, you guys are gonna love it! It used to be one of my favorite activities back when I was a kid! I promise it'll be great!"

"Sure David… So what is it?"

"Oh, I'm glad you asked Max! I'm going to take you all out to the archery range! We are gonna have some fun!"

"Wait… You're saying we are actually shooting THINGS and having fun today?" Nerf had a grin on his face and turned to Preston, "YES! FINALLY!"

"YES!" Preston nervously took a step away.

David walked them down to a shooting range, which wasn't that far. It was about a 15-minute walk in total and when they got there, the campers were astounded. David handed them each a bow, "Now before I give you the arrows, I need to explain the rules…"

As David went over the rules, Max actually completely zoned out of it. Max's headache has subsided but the pain in his stomach was still there. It wasn't a moment of constant pain, it was more like waves of nausea, some stronger than others. He looked over to David and saw that he was still explaining the rules, so he took it upon himself to speed up this process. The sooner they finish, the sooner he can go back to camp and sleep. He was kinda excited about the events, so he was a little disappointed to see that his health said otherwise. He walked over to Neil and Nikki, "Hey, you wanna go look for the arrows?"

"Sure, I wanna see how sharp they are!" Nikki followed Max onto the small shed in the back, "Come on Neil, before David sees us"

It was dark inside the shed, there weren't any light switches and it smelled like an old house… one that was unkempt and abandoned. It reminded Max of his own house, the one he'll be going back to in a couple of months. Shaking the thought and memory from his head, he walked towards the boxes sitting in the back.

"Max? What did you find?" Neil walked over to the boxes Max was standing by. "oh."

Max took an arrow and began to inspect it. "He seriously replaced the arrow tips… With sponges… He… He David-proofed them … FUCKING HELL… I honestly don't know what I expected! This is such a David thing to do."

Nikki stood outside and saw David look at her, "UMMM guys… David's coming."

Nikki ran inside and closed the door. She stood in front of Max and Neil and got down on all fours. David walked in and she began barking and acting like… Nikki. Max grabbed her by her overalls and pulled her back. "Jesus Nik"

"Can you three explain what's going on here?"

"No why don't you explain David?" Max held up the rip off arrows. He shoved the arrows into Davids' face, "explain?"

"Max, you three had no business being inside this shed! You could have ruined the surprise!" He grabbed the arrows out of Max's hands.

Maybe it was his headache, maybe it was the fact that David smacked the arrows out his hand, maybe it was the constant waves of nausea that washed over him or maybe it was the simple fact that he just wanted to go back to camp, but Max got angry. Something inside him snapped. "DAVID! GIVE THOSE ARROWS BACK!"

"Max, archery-"

"No FUCK your archery, David…. FUCK this entire camp, everything here sucks and it's not fun…

"Max you don't need-"

"WELL, APPARENTLY WE DO DAVID BECAUSE YOUR ADVENTURES NEVER FUCKING-" Max stopped talking… He felt his head pulsating and his stomach begged for him to stop. He felt like throwing up.

"Are you alright Max?" David walked closer towards Max but he just backed away.

Max proceed to vomit. Great.

"Ew." Neil looked away.

"Ohhh Vomit, this reminds me of that one time I was at preschool and I threw up some corn, but it wasn't really fully digested and everyone began to laugh at me and they had to call my mom… it sucked." Nikki smiled, "Don't worry Max, we won't tell anyone… your secret is safe with me! Oh and Neil"

"Nikki…"

"Yes, Neil?"

"Shush."

"Okay!"

Max just stood there. He didn't know what to do, so he just backed away and stared at his shoes. He felt tears of embarrassment fill his eyes.

"Okay… Nikki, Neil, why don't you guys go back outside with the rest of the campers" David lead them out and pulled Neil to the side, "Neil, watch the campers for a sec, I'll be back soon"

Neil nodded and followed Nikki, they met up with the other campers who were running around the field

David turned back to Max, who still had his face down, he walked towards him and reached out his hand.

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"You're gonna say something and then expect me to feel better… well, it's not gonna fucking happen so don't even try."

David knew Max didn't really have ill intentions when he said that, so he just nodded. He gave him a washcloth and some water to rinse his mouth out, and lead him outside. He called Gwen to come to pick him up and sat with him until she arrived. They didn't speak, they sat in a comfortable silence. Once Gwen arrived, he walked to the car and explained what happened. He asked Gwen to tell Quartermaster to clean the shed and She nodded.

Max didn't react. He just sat in the car and waited for 'the adults to finish talking'. David walked off back towards the field and Gwen began to drive…

"So ya threw up Huh…" Gwen didn't take her eyes off the road but she could feel Max's embarrassment. "Ooooh not speaking are we… Okay, I don't need you throwing up in my car anyways."

"Fuck you, Gwen."

"And there he is." Gwen smiled, "You feeling better?"

Max shrugged, he had no idea how he was feeling, he just embarrassed himself in the middle of an anger spree… Yeah, no he wasn't feeling so hot. "I'm fine"

"If you were fine… You wouldn't be sitting in this car with me, with a dirty sweater and a doctors note." Gwen pulled up to the camp's driveway and shut off the car. She unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. Max followed her inside and sat down on the chairs. Gwen went to the back and grabbed some medicine, and a glass of water and handed it over to Max. "Here, drink."

"Ew, no, that's nasty."

"Max, drink it, I got you some water so it goes down easier… I know, cherry flavor sucks."

"Don't you have like, I don't know some pill I can pop or something?"

"I don't have any pills for you to get high on Max… I have liquid medicine and we're gonna work with what we got. Also, give me your hoodie so I can wash it." Gwen sighed and pulled the dirty hoodie off Max, "Damn kid, your head is huge"

"Now is not the time bitch." Max pulled the hoodie off and handed it to Gwen.

Gwen took it into the laundry and placed it in the washing machine. She then sat down at her desk and began filing paperwork. "David and the rest of the little shits should be back in a couple of hours, in the meantime, you can stay here with me."

"Oh, goodie…" Max rolled his eyes and laid back in his chair

"If you want, you can go lay down on my bed. Sleep for a while."

"In the bed where you read all your shitty fanfics and write one-shots? Nah I'll pass"

"Fuck you, Max, My stories are great! So do you want to or no?"

He sighed, "Fine…." Max hopped off his chair, and headed toward Gwen's bed and hopped on. He just laid there.

"You want to read something or are you just going to watch me do some boring adult shit?"

"I guess I could use a book... as long as it is not your shitty fanfictions"

"Haha, very funny" Gwen gave him a random book, "Here, this one's not that bad."

Max opened the book and started to read. He didn't expect the book to be this interesting. He found himself inside the book, it was a whole new experience. He read until he got tired and he put the book down. He began drifting off to sleep.

Gwen was working on paperwork at the desk and noticed the comfortable silence, something that didn't go with Max. She looked back and saw Max fast asleep, " I thought you didn't want to sleep on my bed ya little shit." She walked over to Max and gently pulled the covers from under him and placed it on top of him. She tucked him in and saw Max instinctively curled up and grabbed onto the covers. Gwen smiled at the child in front of her. "Aw," She whispered to herself, "Sometimes it's easy to forget you're just a ten-year-old child…" She reached out and touched Max's forehead to check his temperature, "Good, not sick…"

"Gwen… Shut up, I'm trying to sleep"

Gwen pulled her hand back and smiled, "I thought you were already sleeping, good night asshole, even though it's still like...12 in the afternoon."

"Good night Gwen"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: AND WE ARE BACK! Yes yes yes, I hope you didn't miss us too much... Jk Jk! I was gonna post yesterday but the power went out because of Hurricane Micheal, so I didn't really have an opportunity to. Speaking of Hurricane Micheal, for those of you that have been affected, STAY SAFE! Also, thank you all for leaving Kudos and follows, I wasn't expecting so many so thank you... It means a lot that you guys actually enjoy my story! Comments are always welcomed, so feel free to leave one if you like! Love you all my little shits! Happy Reads!
> 
> Edit: I forgot to tell you guys I'll be back next week ;) Don't worry my little shits, There is still more to the story! See ya soon!


	5. MomGwen makes an Entrance!

David came back to camp a few hours later and found Gwen in the office. He walked inside and saw Gwen, who was gesturing to keep silence as she pointed toward Max, who was sleeping peacefully. David nodded. He walked over to the sleeping child, who was drooling onto Gwen's pillow. He placed his hand on Max's forehead to check his temperature.

"I already checked it, He's a little warm, but nothing too bad." Gwen swirled her chair towards David.

David frowned, "No, He's getting warmer… how was he?" He walked back over to the desks and sat down. He looked over the paperwork Gwen filed and signed some documents.

Gwen handed him some files and glanced over to David, "He fell asleep as soon as we got back... poor kid." She slid her chair back over to her desk and gave him a bottle of liquid medicine, "I gave him this, it's all I could find really, it knocked him out though. We need to stock up on medicine, we can't just not have medicine… what if this was like… a real emergency? The kids would probably die"

"Yeah, You're right," David gave Max one last look, "I feel kinda bad. He had a point, our archery arrows are bad, but we can't have anyone kill themselves with them either…"

"Yeah… but if they die... Fewer kids to care about!"

David laughed, "oh gosh Gwen, well, should we take him back to the tent?"

"Nah, You can keep him here, for now, he isn't bothering anyone." Gwen grabbed the files and placed them in her desk, "I'll sleep on the floor or something."

"No, you can sleep in my bed tonight, I'll sleep on the floor, it's fine." Before Gwen could protest, David headed towards the door, "I'm gonna set up the campfire, I'll let you know when it's ready.

Outside, the campers were sitting around their tents waiting for David to come back. Nikki was eating some bugs on the floor and squishing them under her fingers. Neil was just watching her in disgust. "How do you think Max is doing?" Neil looked over at Nikki, how seemed interested on the ant crawling on her finger.

"Hmmmmmmm, I don't know. My guess is he's bothering Gwen. That's what he usually does anyway."

Neil hummed in response, "I don't know, after what happened this morning, I doubt it. But then again it's Max." Neil turned his attention toward the cabin, worried about his friend.

"Yeah, I hope he's okay…" She looked down at her hand and noticed the ant had crawled away and screamed, "NOOO COME BACK HERE, MY LITTLE ANT FRIEND"

Neil jumped at the sudden outburst and looked over at Nikki confused, "Umm yeah, me too…I hope he's okay" Neil watched Nikki grab her 'friend'. She had it on her fingernail and accidentally smashed it when it bit her.

"Awwwwwwww, my friend died. Welp, time to get a new one" Nikki stuck the dead ant in her mouth, and continued looking for more ants to play with.

"Nikki, you are a disgusting person." Neil smiled and looked at the ants.

"Yeah, that's what my mom said." Nikki grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it playfully at Niel. Neil laughed and threw some back. A few throws later, David walked up and gathered them around. Neil and Nikki stood up and dusted themselves off. They walked towards David.

"OKAY CAMPERS! I hope you guys are hyped up about the surprise! We are gonna have a campfire and make s'mores!" David took out some bags of marshmallows from his bag as well as graham crackers and chocolate. The campers all seemed pretty happy and helped David set up the fire.

Neil walked over to David and tugged on his shirt, "Hey David, how's Max doing?"

David turned to Neil and smiled, "Don't worry Neil, he's okay, Gwen is watching him." He handed Neil two sticks and some crackers, "Here, and take this one over to Nikki."

Neil grabbed the sticks and walked back over to Nikki, "Here you go Nikki, crackers, and sticks… I don't know why he didn't give us the marshmallows yet."

Nikki grabbed the stuff and ran over to where David was and waited for the fire to start. Neil followed and sat down next to her. Soon all the other campers were sitting around the campfire waiting for the fire to light. As soon as David lit the fire, he handed the campers some marshmallows and chocolate. "Okay, so be careful to not burn your- NIKKI NO!"

Nikki had proceeded to place her marshmallow directly onto the flame, letting it catch on fire. In a panic, she placed it in her mouth, flame and all. "Oof, spicy." Nikki swallowed the burned marshmallow and placed another one on her stick. Repeating the process.

"Nikki… did that not like… burn your mouth?!" Neil watched in horror as Nikki began eating lit up marshmallows. He looked over to David in confusion and horror and David just shook his head in disappointment.

"Nikki, don't eat the flames." David took the burned stick away from Nikki and handed her a new one.

Back at the cabin, Gwen was watching through the window and laughed at what she saw, "Only Nikki would eat fire… damn, that girl is weird." She walked into the laundry room and grabbed Max's now clean sweatshirt. She folded it and placed it on the top of the machine. She walked back into the room and turned the lights off. She hopped into Davids bed and began writing. She was about thirty minutes in when she head Max shuffle in the bed next to her. She paid no attention to it until he sat up and gagged. "Oh well shit." Gwen got up and quickly went over to Max, she instinctively placed her hand over his mouth to prevent him from vomiting onto the bed, until she realized that that solves nothing. "I'm a fucking idiot…" She quickly grabbed the trash can and placed it under Max. As Max vomited, Gwen sat down beside him and rubbed circles into his back. She tried to not watch what was going on because that would make her vomit, and we can't have two people vomiting at the second time…. It never ends well.

Once Max was done, she quickly grabbed Max's hand and walked him towards the bathroom, bringing the trash can along with her, "Jeez Max, a little warning next time." Gwen threw away the trash can.

"Oh sorry Gwen, I didn't mean to vomit suddenly "Max spoke in a sarcastic tone and turned on the sink. Gwen handed him some water and he rinsed out his mouth. Max felt horrible, not only did he embarrass himself in front of the David and his friends, he embarrassed himself in front of Gwen too. He felt like crying, but Max wasn't going to allow that to happen.

"Let's take you back to bed, you need to sleep." Gwen guided him back to her bed and Max got in. He laid down and looked at the roof. Gwen went back to writing her books on Davids bed. Max couldn't sleep, his mind was going places.

Usually, whenever he got sick at home, he just had to wait it out, but now it's different. Now someone is there to care for him and give him things to make him feel better. This was something Max never really experienced, and for the first time in his life, he felt like an actual child. In a good way. His parents would have never taken the time to look after him… at all.

"Hey, Gwen?"

She hummed in response

"I can't sleep" Max shifted in his bed and faced Gwen, who was typing away on her computer, "Also, what are you doing?"

"Eh, I'm updating my resume and trying to pay my bills, honestly, a pain but hey, that's life…oh and I'm writing so, yay. Or at least I was… I kinda lost inspiration." She put her laptop down and walked over to Max, she sat down and pushed his unkempt hair out of his face, "Gosh Max you are burning up. Are you feeling any better?" Gwen sounded worried, a tone unfamiliar to Max.

"Nope. My stomach still hurts like a bitch" Max looked up at Gwen and smiled, "also, is this really how you spend your nights? You actually write shitty fanfiction?"

Gwen rolled her eyes and smiled, "You are literally burning and you still manage to be a little shit." She walked over to her desk and pulled out a sketchbook.

"Oh shit, you draw the smut too?"

"'oH sHiT yOu DrAw tHe SMut' - Shut the fuck up Max and scoot over."

Max looked at her confused but made room for her anyway. "what are you doing?" He watched as Gwen laid down next to him and opened the sketchbook to a new page.

"we are gonna play hangman!"

"God if only…why don't you hang me instead"

"Max, can we have one moment where you do not want to kill yourself? Also, this game is fun, it's fun watching people struggle with basic English words" Gwen proceeded to start the game.

They played for a while, taking turned each guessing and drawing the game. Max had fun.

As time went on, Max actually began to grow tired and started to drift off to sleep. Gwen noticed and she put the sketchbook away, "I guess we can sleep now." She turned and covered him with the blankets, making sure he was nice and warm. Max reached out and grabbed Gwen's arm. Her first reaction was to pull away.

Max quickly let go of her arm and hid it under the covers. "Sorry" he mumbled, barely audible. Max turned around and cursed himself for acting like such a baby. What made him think doing that would be a good idea?

Gwen looked at Max and realized that he's just a kid and it wouldn't hurt staying with him for a bit. She laid down next to him and waited for David to get back.

"What are you doing?" Max kept facing the window

"Going to sleep… duh"

"You have your own bed, you bitch"

"Fine" Gwen sat up, "If you want me to leave so badly, sheesh."

"Wait, no…. You can stay… if you want." Max cringed at his choice of words but he didn't want Gwen to leave. He felt like shit and wanted to die, and having Gwen there helped. Kinda.

She smiled and climbed back in, "okay." She laid on and covered herself with her blanket.

They both had already drifted off to sleep by the time David came back.

"Sorry Gwen, I was gonna tell you once the campfire started, but Nikki ate the fire and Nerf threatened Preston again, so I had to-" He found Gwen and Max snuggled together, sleeping. David smiled and turned the lights off, "Oh." He quickly changed into his Pajamas and went to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: HERE YOU GUYS GO! Thank you all for leaving Reviews! I'm glad you guys are liking this, replying to you all makes my day! Nikki eating fire was based on a true story... I still have a scar on the roof of my mouth cuz I'm an idiot. XD Honestly, I thought I was gonna be able to upload this yesterday but I completely forgot and realized at like 3 am. OH, I got accepted into college guys! wow, the highlight of my week. Anyways, I will see you all next week my little shits! I promise I'll try to not be late ;) Comments and reviews are always welcomed!


	6. The Doctors Visit

Max was woken up by the bad pains in his stomach, he wasn't nauseous per say, but he did feel like dying… still. He rolled over, realizing he was sharing a bed with Gwen, which made him feel just a little awkward. He stared at the roof and tried to not make any noise as he felt his insides ripping to shreds and the waves of nausea wash over him. He knew he wouldn't make it till morning, it was only 2 am, but he didn't want to wake anyone up either. Max... being Max, rolled over and tried to ignore everything. He felt tears fill his eyes, but you thought wrong if you thought he was gonna let them fall. Fuck. Max spent a good half hour trying to not cry from pain until he couldn't take it anymore. He had to wake someone up.

"Gwen?" he lightly shook her.

Gwen stirred in her bed.

"Gweeeennn"

She hummed in response and turned towards Max, "What do you want?" She was half asleep, her words barely understandable.

"My stomach hurts"

"Rate one to ten..."

Max groaned and rolled his eyes, "uh, I don't know… seven point three?"

"You fucking little shit. UGH" Gwen got up and threw a shoe at David, "David, Wake up"

David jumped out of bed in surprise, he looked around and saw Gwen sitting on the edge of the bed and Max beside her, "What? Is he dying?"

"Nah, but we should probably take this shit to the doctor before he does."

"WHAT?" Max looked up to Gwen, "I don't wanna go to a stupid doctor, I'll be fine, I'm better now, see." Max lied through his teeth as he got back into bed.

"Considering you woke me up at 2 am, you are not fine" Gwen got up, put on a jacket and grabbed the keys to the car, "Come on, let's go. Put some shoes on."

Max looked over to David who was getting back into bed, "What, you're just gonna let her rob me?"

"She's not robbing you, Max… She's being a responsible adult and taking you to see a doctor. Besides we can't leave the camp unattended... " David covered himself with the blankets and smiled, "So, I'm staying here."

Max got back into Gwen's bed, "No."

Gwen rolled her eyes and walked over to Max, "Are you serious?" She smirked, "Is little Max scared of the doctors?" She chuckled and picked Max up

Max didn't have the energy to protest. "No. Shut the fuck up. Also, Put me down."

"Well, the fact that you aren't squirming around means your subconscious is trying to tell you something." She made her way towards the door.

"Good Job Gwen, that psychology degree wasn't as useless as you thought," Max spoke in a sarcastic tone and had a small smirk on his face.

"You still manage to be a little shit…" She opened the door and called back out to David, "I'll give you a call when we get there"

"Can't call him if he doesn't have his-"

"Max, give David his phone back."

"You see, I would… but… remember how you washed my sweater? Yeah… you also washed the phone."

"Goddammit, Max." She turned to David, "David, keep the Walkie Talkies we never use it for some reason with you, I'm gonna take one." She grabbed one and managed to place it on her pants. She went outside and unlocked the car. She put Max into the car and shut the door. She quickly ran back to lock the door and got in the car.

"This is very unnecessary." Max looked out the window and watched as Camp got further and further away. "I don't need to see a doctor... I'm tired."

Gwen looked back at Max and rolled her eyes. She kept driving until they reached the doctor's office. They sat in a comfortable silence.

Once they reached the office, They walked inside. Max was hesitant, he never liked doctors. They scared him a bit. Gwen told him to sit down while she signed him in, leaving max to take in his surroundings. As soon as she finished the paperwork, she sat down next to Max. There was no one in the waiting room, considering it was like 3 am, but it was a 24-hour clinic and it's the closest they have to medical attention. Gwen looked over to Max who was fidgeting in his seat. Something very out of character.

"So, either you're scared of this place, or you're about to shit yourself… which is it?"

"Shut up"

"Scared it is."

Max was about to make a snarky comeback, but the nurse called his name. They walked into a small room and waited for the doctor to come in.

"This is unnecessary..."

"Yeah, you said that already." Gwen took a notepad out of her pocket and began doodling, sitting down in a chair next to the doctors' table.

Max looked around at the room. He noticed the whitish-yellow walls, a computer screen with an image of a stethoscope and some books. It looked like your average clinic. Max never really liked going to doctor offices, he never really knew why… maybe kids just didn't like going in general.

The doctor walked in, she was pretty. "Hey, my name is-"

Gwen looked up and screamed, "ANDREA? IS THAT YOU?"

"Gwen?" She looked at Gwen and couldn't believe her eyes, "OH MY GOODNESS! IT'S BEEN SO FREAKING LONG!" She went over and hugged Gwen

"Oh look, Gwen, someone who put their degrees to work…." Max rolled his eyes and watched as the two girls relished in each others presence.

Gwen looked over at Max and flicked his forehead, "Shut up."

"Make me"

Andrea walked over to Max, "And this must be Max… What bring you guys in? Also, I didn't know you had a kid, when did this happen?"

"Max isn't mine" she awkwardly chuckled, "You know I'm not one for kids, I kinda hate them, and this one… he is most definitely not mine...just here because I don't want to lose my job."

Max listened as Gwen tried to tell her long lost friend she hated him and was forced to bring Max here… He already knew he wasn't wanted, not by his parents, and apparently not by Gwen, "We get it, I'm not yours, can we get on with this bullshit so we can leave?" Max sounded more irritated than he intended to be.

Andrea looked over at Max and smiled, "yeah, that's a good idea, so… What seems to be the problem?" She sat down on the small wheel stool chair thing and rolled over to Max.

"I'm dying."

"Max, you aren't dying…" Gwen rolled her eyes and explained the situation to Andrea, Max just sat there and watched. Occasionally she would turn towards him and inspect him, and turn back to Gwen.

"Okay, it sounds like a common stomach bug, what did you eat?"

Max took a moment to think about it and shrugged, "I have no idea, I don't know what we eat half the time."

"Hmmmmm, interesting. Does it hurt right now?"

"Nope, but I can guarantee that as soon as I leave this shit hole it'll start hurting again, cuz that's what always happens."

Gwen turned towards Andrea, "Is there anything I can give him? Like, to calm the pain down? Because like he said, it doesn't happen continuously, it's periodically."

"you see, that's what is concerning me, it's not supposed to happen periodically, Max sweetie, can you describe the pain?"

"Don't call me that, and it's like I'm being stabbed from the inside out, except, instead of dying like I would have liked, I'm alive and I can feel it and I don't like it… Can we leave now? I'm fucking tired." Max yawned and stretched to emphasize his point but that was a mistake. The pain he was describing came back and it took Max by surprise. "fuck." He doubled over and squeezed his eyes shut.

Andrea looked over at Max and wrote down Something on her notes. "Okay, yeah, I wanna take a look because this isn't a stomach bug. How long are you guys willing to stay here?"

"depends on-"

"Shut up, Max," she looked at the doctor, "don't worry we have time" Gwen glared at Max and smiled at Andrea.

Andrea chucked and walked closer to Max," okay, Max, do me a favor and open your mouth please." Andrea got closer and took a look inside his mouth, she noticed his throat looked irritated, which was concerning because who knows what his esophagus looked like, "does your throat hurt?"

Max shook his head, "No, it just feels like I'm being stabbed over and over and over"

She nodded and grabbed a swab, "Okay, I'm going to steal some cells from you now." She took a sample of cells from his cheek and placed it in a small bag.

Max looked at her, "Are you gonna do one of Neil's stupid science shit where he looks under the microscope?"

Andrea laughed, "Ehh, I have no idea who that is but if we are talking what about the swab, in a way, yes, but my way is wayyy better." She gave Max a small smile and left the room, "I'll be right back"

Max was left alone in the room with Gwen, who went back to doodling. Max looked over to her and felt stupid. He felt for thinking Gwen actually cared, he felt ridiculous for letting himself grow fond of her. It was bullshit. Seeing Gwen dismiss Max like he was nothing hurt. He knew he didn't have a place to begin with….

"Max? You okay? You seem lost in thought." Gwen sounded concerned but didn't take her eyes off of her sketchpad.

Max didn't answer.

A few minutes went by and the doctor came back, "okay so… I ran some test and apparently… You have some acidic component that is eating away at your stomach lining. That's why it feels like you're being stabbed. No worries though because the acid found isn't that harmful, it's like those that you can find in your basic mouthwash, so you'll be fine. I am gonna give you some buffers and antibiotics to help your stomach get better."

Gwen looked over at the doctor and furrowed her eyebrows. "so wait… He-"

"I ate acid?" Max was confusion. He needed explain. "Wow… Just as I thought... the camp IS trying to kill me."

"What?" Gwen looked over at Max and then grabbed the prescribed pills, "okay thank you, Andrea, I'll keep you updated and sorry for having you wake up so early."

Andrea smiled, "oh no, it's no problem at all! Take care Gwen, it was nice seeing you again, and take care of your son please, make sure he doesn't eat acid or something."

"He isn't my kid and yeah no I have no idea how this happened but thanks"

Max and Gwen walked out of the room and into the lobby, Gwen quickly paid and they went towards their car. "alright… Let's go back to camp."

"I hope it burned down..."

"Goddammit, Max."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOW I KNOW! I'm extremely late... again.... shhhhhhh... Yeah, I've been kinda slacking when it comes to updating the story, which is why I'm taking not one, not three, but a two-week break! I've been so busy and overwhelmed with college applications and this stupid Senior Exit Project I have to work on, which means that I don't have time...and that sucks. I can never just stay whelmed, can I?   
> The story is actually wrapping up nicely, so my updates will be back to normal as soon as this all passes! I will see you all in two weeks! Comments and Reviews are welcomed and YAY!


	7. Max and Gwen have a Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back, back again... Hey I'm back... Tell a friend!

The car ride back to camp wasn’t as fun as one could imagine. Max was sitting on the back seat, staring out of the window as Gwen drove. His stomach began hurting again and he tried to keep himself still, avoiding any harsh movements, but with the unkempt road that leads back to camp, it wasn’t an easy task. Gwen looked back into the rear view mirror and noticed Max playing with the rims of his shirt. “Max, you good back there?”

“Yep...” That was a lie. 

Gwen looked up at Max again, “Are you sure? I have water so you can take the pills” Gwen took one hand off the wheel and grabbed the water bottle sitting in the cup holder.

“I don't want your fucking water Gwen, and I don’t want the pills” Max was mad, he's pretty much always a little pissed off but right now he felt like everything and everyone was shit. 

“Okay lose the attitude cuz I just took you to the fucking doctor you shit” 

“Fuck you, Gwen, I don't have a damn attitude”

“Are you sure about that because it kinda sounds like you do”

Max looked at Gwen through the window and rolled his eyes, “I don't have an attitude just shut up…” 

“Look, I will stop this car-”

“Bet you won’t” Max had a small smile on his face, he couldn’t help but enjoy annoying Gwen. 

Gwen pulled over and took her seatbelt off to face Max, who was looking out the window avoiding Gwen's gaze. “you are being extra annoying and I'm going to need you to chill… Like, I know you're Max but like I took you to the fucking doctors and I'm trying to make you feel better so fix yourself.” Gwen smiled and gave Max his prescription. “also, take it”

Max looked up at Gwen, “Gwen, just get back on the fucking road” 

Gwen sighed and put the car in park, making sure there was no one else on the road. 

“What are you doing? Can't you just drive and leave me alone for once? Why do you have to be so extra all the Goddamn time? ”

“Extra?”

“Yes.” Max didn't look up at her. 

“How the fuck am I extra? Listen here you shit, I'm making sure you don't die.” Gwen spoke in her usual tone, which irritated Max. 

“Right.” Max looked up at Gwen and took the bottle, “If I take these… will you drive?”

Gwen nodded and turned back around. She put the car back in drive and began heading down the road.

Max looked at the water bottle and began feeling nauseous, he couldn't even keep the water down but he needed to take the meds anyway. He took a sip of water and immediately regretted it. “Gwen, pull over”

“You complain when I don't drive but now you need me to stop… Alright.” Gwen pulled over and Max opened the door and proceeded to vomit outside. “did you take the meds yet?” 

Max shook his head and wiped his mouth, he drank some water and rinsed his mouth out, taking swallowing the pills in the process. “well, I did now.”

Gwen looked back a Max, who was cleaning himself off. She hopped out the car and helped Max. 

“Stop it, I don't need your help”

“We are in the middle of the goddamn road, I'm speeding up the process.” 

“Stop I'm not a fucking baby”

“I never said you were”

“You're treating me like one so stop it”

“God damn Max, making sure you don't die isn't me treating you like a child, It’s my job, you really think I give a fuck?”

Max looked up at Gwen, “right.” Max knew it, he knew it from the start, Gwen didn't give two shits about him. All she cared about were her paychecks… 

“Okay, let's get you back to camp cuz you need the rest.” She reached out to pet Max’s hair but he pulled away.

“Stop it” 

“Alright, put your seatbelt on.” Gwen walked back into the front seat, she didn’t really look into the fact that Max pulled away, He’s Max and he’s done it all the time. 

Max didn’t look at Gwen, he was right. She didn’t care, she never did. He was stupid to even consider the idea that someone actually cared, he cursed himself for it. These past 2-3 days have been literally hell, and he was losing the small almost nonexistent hope he had left. He put his seatbelt on and stared out the window. He felt tears well up in his eyes. No one in his entire life ever showed him genuine affection or care. When they did, they always had a motive behind it. They were either embarrassed by his presence or just annoyed with his existence. Thinking that Gwen was the exception was a waste of his time… He should have known better. 

Gwen didn't say anything as she looked back at Max. She saw the hurt in his eyes and she immediately felt bad. She knew exactly why Max was mad, she just didn't realize what she had said until it was too late, she felt like an asshole… Who tells a neglected child that they don't care? Gwen cursed at her self. She didn't know what to say to make him not feel like shit, “Max, I know. I'm a fucking idiot. I didn't mean to say what I said, it just kinda slipped out. Not that it's true, on the contrary. Your special Max-”

“You're just like everyone else… A fucking liar.” Max wasn't expecting for those words to come out of his mouth, he didn't mean to say anything back at all, but he kept on talking, “you pretend to care and it's a waste of your time. I get it. I don't need an explanation. I don't blame you anyway.”

“Max, the fuck are you talking about?”

“I don't need people to keep pretending to care. It gets annoying after awhile. So...whatever just drive.” He didn't dare look at Gwen, he felt tears fall down his face and he did his best to hide them. 

Gwen didn't know what to do. She knew Max, but a crying Max was something she never really dealt with… it was too out of character for him. “I'm not pretending to do anything” She leaned back into her seat. Waiting for a reply. She didn't get one. 

Max kept looking out the window. Into the passing forest. Not saying a word. He was much more focused on keeping himself together and make it back to camp without vomiting the contents of his stomach and crying. Life sucked. 

He felt the car stop. “Gwen… I swear to God if you don't drive I'm gonna-” Gwen took the keys out of the ignition and got out of the car. She walked over to the back and opened the door to Max. 

He looked at her in confusion, “what are we-”

“Just get out of the car. I wanna show you something.”

Max got out and followed Gwen down a trail into the forest. He looked around until Gwen stopped, moving some branches out of the way. “Where are we?”

Gwen led Max into an opening in the forest, with a picnic table right in the middle. 

“Woah, I didn't know this existed” Max looked around and took in the scenery. It was nice, a small little area surrounded by trees. He looked over a Gwen, who was looking over at the table, “why did you bring me here?” 

She shrugged, “this is the place I would go to whenever anxiety came to visit, it's a calming place… Quiet.”

Max looked at Gwen, “you grew up with your anxiety?”

Gwen nodded and walked over to the worn down picnic table. She ran her fingers around the wood and noticed how rough it's gotten. It brought back memories, memories of when she would run all the way here just to scream, cry and break down. Fun times. She sat down and looked up at the trees, “Life sucks Max, I think you of anyone else here should know that. But just because life sucks, doesn't mean you have an excuse to act like shit. Don't victimize yourself. It gets you nowhere… Trust me.”

Max walked towards Gwen and sat down next to her. Gwen didn't look down at him, she kept staring at the trees. Max didn't know what to say, he thought about what Gwen said. She had a point, “I suck”

“No, you don't…”

“Yes I do”

“And why is that?”

“Do you know what it's like for your own parents to tell you that you're a waste of space at home? Every call home from school just… And it's not just at schools, it's here too, they just don't bother to deal with it. I'm a fuck up. No one cares. Everything I do is wrong and no one likes me, and it's like…” Max didn't know how to explain to Gwen what he was feeling. “My parents were right… I'm a mistake” Max felt tears fill his eyes again and he didn't bother wiping them away, he never said any of that out loud to anyone. Until now. 

Gwen didn't take her eyes off of the trees, “you really think that?”

Max didn't respond, he just stared at the ground. Hoping it'll break in half and swallow him whole, just so he can get out of this situation. 

“I don't think you understand how cool you are Max. You're not a mistake. You're not a fuck up. You're just a kid.” 

Max looked down and wiped away stray tears. 

“I get that you're parents aren't the best, and I get that you're forced to grow up faster than most. You have us. Do you really think David would come up with inclusive camp activities if he didn't like you? Do you really think I would be wasting my gas on you so you don't die at camp?”

“In the car and to Andrea you said-”

“Well, I didn't mean it.” Gwen looked down at Max and saw him wipe tears from his face, “I say shit I don't mean all the time, so I'm sorry.” 

There was no answer from Max. 

“Do you accept my apology?” Gwen let out a small laugh and turned to face Max. 

Max just sat there, his legs brought up to his chest, sobbing quietly. Gwen was apologizing, sharing her story, and letting him learn about a place that she cares deeply for. Max didn't know how to react to this. He never experienced the feeling of being trusted this much before, it was a nice feeling. An overwhelming feeling. He looked up at the trees and nodded, he smiled and proceeded to hug Gwen. 

Gwen hugged Max back. “I'll take that as a yes.” she felt her shirt getting wet with tears, “Aw don't cry...” she rubbed circles onto his back like she always does. “You're a good kid Max. You're smarter than what you give yourself credit for. I don't know what you go through at home, and I know you're not gonna tell me any time soon and that's okay. But we love you, Max, people can be nice without wanting anything in return. Learn to trust a little okay?”

Max sniffled and nodded. Wiping his eyes just for more tears to take his place. “Thank you…for caring, and for not getting annoyed.”

“Oh, I could never” Gwen brought back her usual sarcastic tone. Max pulled away and wiped his face. 

“This never happened”

“What never happened?” Gwen smiled 

“Exactly”

They both laughed. Max and Gwen sat there for a while, talking about random shit, they didn't feel like going back to camp just yet, it was nice out and being away from camp for a while might do Max some good. 

“So, who the fuck is Andrea? How do you know her?” Max had that question ever since he was Gwen get all happy when she saw her. 

“Oh, she was my best friend in College! We were roommates and we really hit it off. She was majoring in Nursing I think, and I did liberal arts with a dual major in psychology. We had really fun times together…”

“Did you guys lose contact with each other?” 

“Yeah, after senior year of undergrad we all parted ways, she went to this really prestigious Medical school and I… well… dropped out.” Gwen's smile faded but it quickly came back

“Why?” 

“Because… Who the fuck hires a liberal arts major?”

Max watched as Gwen brushed off the question, he didn't ask for more details so he just sarcastically replied “Welp…Can't argue with you there…”

“Exactly, so yeah, we lost contact… It was nice seeing her again though.”

“Do you regret it? dropping out?” Max didn't mean to ask that question, but he couldn't help himself, his curiosity got the best of him. 

“Oh no. I'm not cut out for school… I will say however that applying to jobs is a pain in the ass… I was lucky the camp hired me. And I kinda like the camp, even tho I won't be putting my degrees to a professional use, it's nice to know what I know… Especially cuz I work with kids” 

“Weird kids”

“Very weird and annoying little humans, but actually as bad as that sounds, I'll admit, it's a pretty cool job to have.” 

Max looked over at Gwen and smiled, “Shhh don't tell David that… he’ll start taking the CBFL’s title more seriously”

They both laughed and Gwen got up, “okay, it's getting late and we should probably get back to camp so you can get more rest. I see you're feeling better so those pills did the trick.”

“Yep, still feel like shit though”

“Then let's get back to camp,” she grabbed the keys and walked back to the car, “Let's hope the fucking car still works”

“Yeah, I have to get back and kill Neil.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY HEY HEY! It feels like forever since I last posted! I hope you all didn't miss me too much. I finally finished all of my big assignments for school, so now all I have to worry about are finals... ugh. I'm such a mess really. 
> 
> Anyways! I hope you all like this chapter! I actually had some fun writing this one! Well, I have fun writing all of them but you get the point XD! Comments and Reviews are always welcomed! Happy Reads my little shits! I will see you all next week!


	8. The Return

The ride back to camp was tranquil. The roads were empty, which meant no traffic, which meant no read rage, and Gwen was happy about that. 

Max was in the back seat watching the scenery. Trees after trees, green, yellow, and orange. Max wasn't fond of being outdoors much, but he liked looking at nature. He looked at Gwen from the rearview mirror and down at the prescribed pills in the bottle, “Take one every 12 hours…can be ingested with or without meal, contains blah blah blah-hey, Gwen?”

Gwen looked at Max and hummed in reply.

“Do I need to take all of these?”

“Well, no… I mean once you start feeling better you should probably stop talking them…we don't want to throw off your stomach's Ph balance, that's what got you here in the first place.”

“so then what are you gonna do with the extra pills?” 

“Uhhhhhhhhhhh trash them?”

Max shook the pill bottle and tossed them aside. He brought his legs up and positioned himself to lay down in the back seat, “Good night”

“It’s 5pm…”

“Fuck 5 pm”

“Alrighty, good night. I’ll wake you when we get to camp”

Back at camp, Neil was at his science station, mumbling to himself. He hasn’t seen Max at all today, in fact, he wasn’t there during breakfast or Lunch. It was almost 3 and he was getting worried, it wasn’t like Max to just disappear like that. He turned his attention back on his computer he built and began programming again. It helps calm him. 

“Hey, Neil!”

Neil jumped and turned around to see Nikki come towards him with an apple, “Hey Nikki”

“Whatcha doing?” 

“Oh, nothing I was just playing around with come computer programming.”

“If Max were here… he would call you a nerd. Since he isn’t here, I’m gonna do it for him.” She grabbed Neils shoulder and turned him around, she did her best Max impression, “Neil, you’re a nerd” 

They both giggled and Nikki handed him an apple, “here, take this, David gave it to me to give to you because I ate your food.”

He grabbed the apple from her hand and bit into it, “Well, you didn’t eat it, I let you have it.”

“The food was good tho, why didn’t you eat it?”

“I don’t know, I wasn’t hungry…Hey, did David tell you where Max is?”

Nikki shook her head, “No I didn’t ask”

 

“What if he’s dead…”

“MAX DIED?!?”

“WHAT NO!”

“Oh. stop scaring me.” Nikki went over to Neils computer and looked at the screen, “What’s all this?” She ran her hands over the keyboard and pretended to smash the keys, she turned towards Neil, “I'm in.” 

“Nikki, don’t touch that, it took me hours to get it this far, I don’t want to have to start all over.” Neil began to put away his computer and ate his apple in the process. He didn’t realize how hungry he had gotten. He walked over to his computer and locked everything up. “Come on Nikki, let’s go see what leftover food they have at the mess hall, I’m getting hungry.” 

“m’kay” Nikki walked next to Neil and they made their way to the food court. 

It was empty inside, Neil made his way towards the kitchen window and called out, “Quartermaster?? Ya there?” 

In the kitchen, the quartermaster was talking to David and turned his attention to the voice calling out his name. He looked back at David and shrugged, he walked towards the small food window and saw Neil, accompanied by Nikki. “What.”

“I'm hungry”

“lunch is over”

“Yeah but-”

“lunch is over” he turned his attention back to David and found that he was gone. He shrugged and walked into the back room, and proceeded to watch TV. 

David walked out into the dining area and gave Neil a protein bar, “Here you go Neil, I noticed you didn't eat much during lunch so I sent Nikki to give you an apple, I see it opened up your appetite! Hooray!”

“Oh thank you,” he grabbed the protein bar, unwrapped it and took a bite. 

Nikki walked up to David, “Hey David, when's Max coming back?”

“Oh don’t you worry Nikki, He should be back soon”

Nikki grabbed Neil's protein bar and took a piece, she stuck it in her mouth and chewed. 

Neil turned to David, “He's okay?”

David smiled, “Of course he is!”

“Do you know when he's coming back-”

David nodded, “Yeah, Gwen radioed me a few minutes ago, I was gonna meet her outside,” He looked down at his watch and gasped, “Oops, I probably should get going, they'll be here any minute. Stay here, kids.”

“But-” Neil watched as David made his way outside and left him with Nikki, who was eating his protein bar. 

Outside, David stood inventively watching the road for cars. once he saw Gwen pull up, he quickly made his way over. 

Gwen put the car in park and got out, she saw David and smiled. 

“GWEN! You're back!” David pulled Gwen into a hug. 

“Yep. I'm back… Also, I can't breathe.” 

“Oh,” he let her go and turned his attention to the back of the car, “Where's Max?” 

Gwen looked at the car and gestured to the back seat, “He's still asleep, I didn't wanna wake him up…”

David went over to the car and opened the door to the backseat, he reached in and pulled out a half-asleep Max. “Let's get you inside” 

Max had no idea where he was, he quickly shook himself awake only to realize he was back at camp, “Oh… We’re here…”

“MAX! YOU'RE ALIVE!” 

“Sadly.”

David hugged him unexpectedly, “I honestly thought you were dying, I'm so glad you're okay!” David was practically twirling Max around in his arms which caused Max to struggle to break free. 

“Jesus Christ David put me the fuck down.” 

David happily obliged and put Max on the floor. 

“now, where are Nikki and Neil??”

“The mess hall! Oh, they were so worried, they thought something bad happened to you and-” David realized Max had stopped listening and had already begun walking towards the mess hall. 

Gwen looked at David and laughed, “he's feeling better, so that's good.”

“Yeah I can tell, he’s more Max now.” David and Gwen walked behind Max and saw him push open the doors. 

Neil was sitting down next to Nikki, “NEIL IM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!” Max threw the doors open and made his way towards Neil. He grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, “YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!” 

David quickly pulled Max off of him, “Not even an hour back and you are already fighting!”

“PUT ME DOWN DAVID, IM GONNA KILL NEIL!”

“Max, Why don't you try to-”

“David I swear to God I will hinder your abilities to have kids if you don't put me down…” 

David sighed and put him down.

Neil got up and took a step back, “hello to you too Max?” He made his way towards Nikki and stood behind her.

Gwen walked in and audibly sighed, “Max, we literally arrived 3 seconds ago…”

David looked at Max, “Max, try not to kill Neil, I'm gonna go talk to Gwen outside and when I get back you all better be in one piece.”

David walked outside, leaving the three children inside, Max was facing Nikki and Neil. “Fuck you, Neil”

“Well Geez, I don't even know why I'm being fucked”

“Don't play stupid with me, you know exactly why you're being fucked” Max poked Neil in the chest.

Nikki smiled and joined in, “Am I being fucked? Max, are you gonna fuck me?”

Max and Neil turned their attention towards Nikki, “I swear you say the weirdest shit possible sometimes… And no, I actually kinda missed you, so you're fine,” Max pointed towards Neil, “It's him I'm mad at.”

“What did I do???? I'm innocent!” Neil held his arm out. 

“You got me sick!”

“HOW?”

“Well… I don't know…. BUT YOU DID!” Max actually had no idea how Neil did it, but deep down he knew Neil was the one to blame, he did eat acid…

Gwen and David walked back inside. They joined the trio and calmed everyone down. “okay, I can see why you would have thought it was Neil, but let's not point fingers yet Max.” 

“Yeah,” Gwen added, “What he said”

“can someone just tell me why Max is BLAMING ME?”

Max looked at Gwen then back at Neil, “because… I ate acid!”

“You what?” Neil couldn't believe what he was hearing.

“You heard me,” Max was getting irritated, “this is your fault!”

Neil burst out laughing, “YOU ATE ACID!” 

“It's not funny-”

“YES, IT IS! YOU FUCKING ATE ACID!” Neil was dying of laughter and Gwen couldn't help but giggle along with him. Even David let out a small chuckle. 

“Okay Neil, that's enough…” David looked at Max, “Okay Max, I can see why you think it's Neil, but if you ate it then it's got to be something from the kitchen… Not Neil.”

Nikki looked at Neil and her face lit up, “I ate Neil's experiment a few days ago and I'm doing just fine.” she smiled and tugged on Neil's shirt, “remember? Cuz then you kicked me out of the lab... Good times, Good timess” she looked up as if reliving a memory.

“Oh shit.” Everything came flooding back into Neil's mind. The experiment, the frustration, the coming to the kitchen to show the Quartermaster. 

“What?” Gwen glared at Neil “What did you do Neil…”

“I uh, I may have brought in my science experiment into the kitchen the other day, and the quartermaster may or may not have added it into the mash potatoes, and I may or may not have forgotten to throw away a plate, and Max may or may not have eaten that plate on accident…” Neil looked at David and Gwen, and he didn't dare face Max, he already felt his stare.

“Well, you told the truth…we aren't mad at you-”

“Not mad? NOT MAD? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH PAIN, RESPECT, AND TIME YOU COST ME NEIL? I COULD HAVE DIED! I HAVE A REPUTATION TO MAINTAIN IN THIS CAMP AND BEING SICK ISN'T ONE OF THEM!” If it weren't for David and Gwen, Max would have already been attacking Neil. 

“Now Max… Neil didn't mean to get you sick, it was an accident. Although,” Gwen looked over to Neil, “ Neil, you do know that you aren't allowed to bring in your science shit into the kitchen right?”

Neil nodded.

“Alrighty then! We figured out what happened and now all that's left is to apologize!” David smiled and gestured over to Gwen, who was visibly unamused by David.

“Oh… yes. Apologize!” Gwen spoke in her sarcastic pretending to care tone and made her way towards the door and dragged David along with her.

“Remember kids, friendship is magic!”

“No shut the fuck up David.” Gwen rolled her eyes and they walked outside. 

Neil looked over at Max, “Sorry Max.” Neil felt guilty, he didn't mean to get Max sick, and he kinda didn't want Max to be mad at him, considering Max and Nikki were his only friends… And sometimes maybe space kid. 

Max sighed and lied through his teeth, “whatever, I'm feeling better anyway…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BLACK FRIDAY- I mean... HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! Here, have another chapter! I'm pretty happy with how this story is turning out, I'm estimating maybeeee 2? more chapters left. Yeah, it's wrapping up pretty nicely. I am thankful for having such a loving audience for my story and making me smile with each comment I get XD! 
> 
> If you all wanna keep up with my life or just see what I'm up to, I might post my twitter handle on here so you all can chill with me on twitter... if you all want of course. So... let me know ;) 
> 
> Anyways, feel free to leave a comment and if I don't post on time next week, then it's because college is kicking my ass... but nevertheless... see you all next week my little shits!


	9. People don't make the Best Decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a fucking month... I know... oof... 
> 
> Look... I'm Sorry! Forgive me! I love you! 
> 
> Here... happy reads!

Monday, it was Monday and Max was beginning to feel better, meaning he had spent his entire weekend feeling like shit. He couldn't complain really because he did get more comfortable around Gwen and David, but he was lying when he said that he forgave Neil. He didn't forgive him, he was gonna get him back… and he had a plan. 

David was in the middle of showing the other campers how to row a boat, and honestly, Max was getting bored. He just stood there and thought about how he was gonna make Neil feel like shit. He had a couple of ideas but he wasn’t in the mood to make elaborate set up like he usually does.

As soon as David finished talking, all the campers dispersed and went back to their normal camp activities. Max walked over to Nikki, “Hey Nikki, let's get out of here, I'm bored as fuck.”

Nikki looked over at Max in surprise, “Are we setting trees on fire again? Cuz that was fun!”

Max rolled his eyes, “No, we are not setting trees on fire...” 

“Aw, why not?” Nikki looked over at Max and sighed, “I really wanted to burn it down…” Nikki's eyes lit up “LET’S RAID THE PANTRY!” Nikki grabbed on to Max's arm and began dragged him towards the mess hall. 

Max stopped her and grabbed onto her overall straps, “Incorrect, we are not going to get food, we are going to do something I've been planning on doing for a while now…” 

“And that is???” Nikki looked at Max and noticed he was deep in thought.

“I have no fucking clue… which is why I need you to help me.”

“Okay.” Nikki looked over at Neil, “We should go get Neil… He’s a smart human-”

“NO.” Max didn’t mean to scream that out, “I mean… no... He looks busy…” 

Max and Nikki looked over at Neil who was talking to Space Kid, “See, told you, He’s busy.”

Neil saw his two friends and smiled, “Wait I’ll be right back Space kid.” He walked over to Max and Nikki, “Hey guys!”

“Hey, Neil!” Nikki greeted Neil and looked over at Max, who just waved. 

“What are you two doing?”

“Oh, we were -”

“Nothing! We weren’t doing anything.” 

Neil jumped the sudden outburst, “If you say so…”

An awkward silence.

“Sooooo... I’m gonna go back over there and help Space Kid with his ship… See you guys later?” 

Max gave a short nod and watch as Neil went back to Space Kid, who seemed rather excited for him to return. 

Nikki looked back at Neil, “Why are we leaving him behind?”

“Because, fuck Neil”

“I thought you forgave him…”

“It's called lying.”

Nikki looked at Max and gave him a worried look, “Are you sure about this Max? I mean… It was an accident…”

“Relax,” Max brushed off her comment, “It won't be that bad…”

Nikki shrugged, “If you say so…” She walked with Max to the activities circle, “So what exactly are you gonna do?” 

“I don’t fucking know…”

“Hmm,” Nikki dripped down to the ground and began picking grass, “Well, he has a computer you can mess with.”

“Oh shit… you’re actually on to something.”

Nikki gave an approving smile, “Of course”

An idea came into Max’s head, “I’m gonna fuck up his computer.”

“But he’s been working on his computer since he got here… you messing around would- OHHHHHHHH ”

“Exca-fucking-sactly.”

“Well, The computer is in his activity tent which is right across from where he is now… I’ll distract him while you get in there.” 

“No need, he’s over there being a nerd with the other nerd… we’ll be fine.” Max helped Nikki off from the ground and they casually walked closer to the tent.

They entered Neils science room and walked over to his work desk. Sitting on top was a vintage computer, grey and old, but new at the same time. Max turned it on and up popped a screen with a bunch of numbers and letters and weird symbols. 

Max let out an irritated sigh, “Damn, and here I am thinking he had internet… we could have totally-”

“Played games!”

Max looked over at Nikki, “uh… yeah, games. That’s exactly what I was gonna say…” 

Nikki walked over to Max and saw the coding for the computer, “Ew, that looks nasty.” 

“Very, and it also looks very valuable.”

Nikki looked at the computer and tilted her head, “no, they look like something that’s worth a lot, you know” 

Max scrolled through the computer, thinking about how he was gonna execute his plan. “So, delete all this shit?”

“I guess…” Nikki shrugged, “Max… are you sure you really want to destroy everything he’s worked for?” 

“Yes.”

Nikki looked at Max and back at the computer. 

“Jesus fucking christ Nikki, if it bothers you so much then… I'll delete half…”

Nikki sighed and walked to the entrance of the tent, keeping an eye on Neil. 

Max looked at the coding on the computer and scrolled through it. He hummed in thought. Deleting half of the code seemed like a pretty reasonable idea… He did deserve it after all… But something told Max that maybe it wasn't the best idea. Just in case, Max took out Davids phone and took pictures of the code he was about to erase. Once he had them on the phone he began hitting the backspace button. He stopped as soon as he hit the halfway point and smiled. “Welp… That was fast....”

“Neil's gonna be mad.” Nikki looked back at the computer screen. 

Max shrugged, “so what? I'll fuck him up.” 

“Max I don't think-”

Max rolled his eyes and turned to face Nikki, “I told you, relax, if you're worried about getting in trouble then you'll be fine because this was my idea.”

“No, I just think this is stupid and pointless”

Max sighed, “why don’t you call Neil over… tell him we need him over here.”

“Okay…” Nikki ran out of the room in the direction to Space Kids activity spot. 

As she got closer to her destination, she saw them work on a small machine, that actually looked like a rocket ship, “oooooooohhhhhhh prettyyyy” 

“Oh, why thank you Nikki!” Space Kid rolled under from under the ship and got up. He dusted himself off and walked towards her, “It wouldn’t have looked like this if it weren’t for Neils help!”

Neil smiled, “it's whatever, it was actually pretty fun.” He turned his attention back to Nikki, “You and Max finished whatever it was you guys were doing?”

“Oh yeah! That’s why I'm here! Max wants to show you something!”

“Max wants to show ME something? Is it wrong that I’m a little scared?” Neil nervously laughed.

“Nah.” Nikki tried her best to not sound upset or disappointed or something. 

Neil sighed and began to follow Nikki, “See ya later Space Kid”

“Bye! Thanks for helping me!” 

Neil waved back at the small boy as Nikki began leading him towards his lab area. “Wait… Nikki this is my lab…”

“Yeah!”

“Why are we going to my lab? Wait, were you guys here the whole time??!!? How did I not see you guys go in there???”

“Shhhhhhhh” Nikki walked towards his little lab booth and went inside the small tent that held his computer. “Max, we’re home!” 

Max stood next to the computer with a shit eating grin. “Hello” 

Neil felt himself begin to panic… Max was right next to a computer he built from scratch and a 2 months worth of coding lines, “Max. Don’t you fucking dare-”

“Oops, too little too late you piece of shit. Half of your ones and zeros are gone.”

Neil stood there in shock and looked at his computer screen, he walked towards it and began scrolling through his work. He began realizing that everything he's been working on for the past month was gone. He felt a surge of rage wash over him.

“You asshole.” Neil looked up at Max and furrowed his brows, “you did this shit on purpose didn't you?”

“On purpose? Me? I would never!” Max smiled and laughed, “Maybe if you had kept your science shit away from me this would have never happened…”

Now, Neil wasn't exactly the fighting person. In fact, he would avoid any type of confrontation at all cost, but this was different. This wasn't a random stranger on the street or the popular football player from school… This was Max. His friend. 

Neil took a step back from his computer and turned to Max, “You Motherfucker.” He grabbed Max by the neck of his hoodie, “DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO FINISH THAT CODE SEQUENCE? DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS THAT COST ME?” 

Max grabbed Neil's hand and pulled it away from him, “Well, first of all, lose the fuckin attitude. Second of all, I already told you that you... your fucking science BULLSHIT is a load of fucking crap.” 

“You ERASED HALF OF MY PROGRAM! THAT WAS TIME THAT I WON'T EVER GET BACK!” He pulled his hand away from Max's grip and instinctively pushed Max back.

Max looked at Neil and regained his balance, “Don't fucking start with me”

“Start? Oh no, we already have begun.” He threw the first punch.

Max grabbed his arm and pulled it down, causing him to fall onto the floor, Max got on top and began beating the shit out of the poor kid. Neil, however, surprised Max when he began to fight back. 

Nikki watched the two boys fight until she decided that enough was enough. She casually walked outside and went over to David and Gwen, who were outside near the entrance of the activity field, “Neil and Max are fighting”

David looked down at Nikki, he didn't even notice she was there. “What?”

Gwen looked down at Nikki, “Did you say they were fighting?”

“yep.”

She sighed and told the small child to take them to Max and Neil. 

Max and Neil were still wrestling with each other when David, Gwen, and Nikki arrived back. 

“God Dammit, we leave you little turds alone for one fucking second…” Gwen watched as David broke them apart.

“DAVID! I WASN'T FINISHED KICKING HIS ASS”

Gwen already knew what was about to happen so she turned to Nikki, “Sweetie why don't you go… I don't know, be Nikki somewhere else?” 

“But I wanna see the action! It's like a real-life movie!” 

“I don't know what kind of movies you watch but trust me, the movies are better. Now, go.”

Nikki ran towards the activity area and joined the other campers play with the newly built spaceship. 

Gwen walked over and looked at the two boys, “Explain yourselves”

Max wiped some blood off his hands and looked up at Gwen, “He came at me first!”

Neil was about to tackle Max again if it weren't for David keeping them apart, “You deleted my program… Something that took me months to perfect! You took away two months from me…TWO FUCKING MONTHS” Neil began to tear up, “I worked day and night on that shit and now it's gone! You erased it! I was almost done with it!” 

Max watched as David pulled Neil aside and began tending his injuries. He noticed Neil wipe away tears and he couldn't help but feel kinda bad about it. He knew what it was like to have something you treasure to be taken away by someone you thought you could trust. 

Gwen grabbed onto Max's shoulder and pulled him aside, “What the fuck Max!?” 

Max shrugged, “Fucking nerd. If he didn't poison me in the first place this would have never happened… Him and his stupid experiments”

Gwen sighed, “Jesus Christ, is that what this is about? Didn't you get over this?”

“...No”

“You know you aren't the first person to get sick at this camp right?”

“That's not the point here.”

“Then what is Max? Because beating the shit out of Neil sure wasn't." Gwen began to wipe off blood off his face and hands and disinfected some cuts on his face. 

Max winced at the pain. He looked over to David and Neil and began feeling guilty over the events that just played out. He looked back at Gwen and didn't know how to respond. The revenge idea played out better in his head… 

“Apologize.” Gwen didn't look at Max. 

“What?”

“You heard me.”

Max furrowed his eyebrows, “No”

“You're being a dick right now Max, and you are about to lose one of the only friends you've got.” She looked over at Neil and then back at Max “But then again… It's up to you” Gwen finished tending to his wounds and got up. She walked over to where Neil and David were at. Leaving Max alone in the corner of the tent.

“Neil, Neil, Neil… I'm all for watching people fight but damn…”

David looked over at Gwen and let out a small laugh, “He'll be okay…” he looked over at the kid in front of him, “Right Neil?”

Neil nodded.

“Good. Now I'll be right back with an ice pack. Don't go anywhere.” David got up and walked out of the room. Gwen followed him out. 

Now it was just Max and Neil in the room. It was awkward. Neil was sitting down on his computer chair and Max was still standing in the corner of the tent. 

“Ummm. So, I should probably mention that I didn't erase your code shit…”

“What?”

“Well... I did... but it's not exactly gone....” He walked over to Neil and pulled out Davids phone, “see, I took pictures of it so you wouldn't have to figure it all out again”

Neil took the phone and almost began crying from excitement. “You didn't delete anything!?”

“well no, I did.” 

“You know what I mean!”

“Oh then no? Look, I'm not that big of an asshole…”

“well…”

“Shut the fuck up and be happy I didn't erase your entire existence” 

“Sure.” Neil laughed. He looked over at Max, “Wait, why did you take pictures?”

“Jesus fucking christ Neil, don't make this into a big deal, I just wanted to get back at you and have you feel just like I did…”

“You mean you wanted me to feel like complete shit?”

Max nodded and opened his mouth to say something but David walked into the room.

He gave an ice pack to Neil and he proceeded to place it on his head. David then gave Max a couple of Band-aids to put on his hands. 

“Now, I need you two to be nice to each other. Friends are important and you have to respect them.” He focused on Max, “Even when they make mistakes… reacting the way you did Max was unacceptable.”

Max made himself seem unamused, “Yeah yeah whatever.” 

“And you Neil, this would have never happened if you would have followed the rules and not bring your science into the mess hall.”

“I won't do it again”

David smiled, “Now, I want both of you to settle your differences and stay out of trouble… I'll be in the mess hall preparing your lunch for today if you need me!” and with that David left. 

Max held out his hand, “Let's go on with our stupid lives and pretend this never happened”

“Neil shook his hand, “Agreed”

They both laughed and walked outside to join Nikki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you ever heard of writer's block??? Cuz I met her just recently... Guys, I know, It's been a freaking month since I last posted and honestly sue me. I am such a disappointment. *sigh*
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I enjoyed writing it and it's actually one of my longest ones. My story... AH, It's literally done! I'm gonna post a very short epilogue after this but in terms of the story... it's over. Wow, this is such a bittersweet feeling... Aww. 
> 
> Anyways! Comments and reviews are always welcomed! I'll try to reply to as many as I can! 
> 
> See you all next week for the last chapter my little shits!!! Happy reads! And yes... I will return in a week... I PROMISE!


	10. Epilogue

Things were starting to work out.

Neil didn't lose his life… or program. In fact, he finished it in two days with the help of Max and David's phone of course. He even added some cool new features to it. 

Max was also beginning to feel completely normal again. He wasn't on the verge of throwing up the contents of his stomach every 5 seconds, and he wasn't sleeping with Gwen and David anymore. He was back at his tent and he couldn't be happier. He did get a lot more comfortable with Gwen and David, especially Gwen since she's a lot more… bearable. Also, Max realized he doesn't mind hanging out with Gwen, she's pretty cool. 

And Nikki, oh, she was just happy both her friends were okay. 

It was a sunny day outside and the three kids were outside basking in the sun. They were laying down on a blanket they found in the quarter Masters shed. 

“Ahh, This is nice.” Max had on his sunglasses and smiled, “have you ever seen camp be so… quiet?”

“No, not really… but hey, I’m definitely not complaining.” Neil was laying next to Max. 

“True… we should cherish this rare moment, for we might never experience it again.” 

Nikki looked over to Max and Neil, “I'm glad to see you guys are friends again!”

“Huh?” Max looked at Nikki, “What are you talking about?”

“ I didn't want to have separate friends”

“Separate friends?” Neil looked past Max and over to Nikki, “What?”

“You know, like not be a group anymore, cuz then I would have to bounce between you and Max and I've seen my mom do it and it seems exhausting…”

“Ha, your mom's a- ”

“Great person…” Neil laughed and cut Max off before he finished his sentence. 

Max smirked and turned to Nikki, “Nah, I don't think that would happen.”

“Are you sure? Cuz you guys can be pretty stupid sometimes”

Max sat up and faced Nikki, “The fuck is that supposed to mean?” He glared at her.

“Yeah, what he said” Neil sat up as well and looked at Nikki questionably.

Nikki grinned, “I mean, come on Neil, you got to admit, going to the Quartermaster for science was ridiculous, he doesn't even care!”

“Ummm, okay I asked you but you ATE IT!” 

“I don't remember eating anything” 

“Liar” 

Nikki smiled and turned to Max, “And you Max…”

“The fuck did I do? Don't come at me because I'm innocent in all this!”

“But are you really?” She narrowed her eyes

“I think I am…”

“Are you really?” 

“Yes. I just said that.” 

“Well, last time I checked you tried to destroy Neil's computer thingy…”

“I didn't destroy it…” He looked at Neil, “At least not physically…”

“But you thought it was a good idea… doesn't that sound a little stupid?” Nikki tried her hardest to keep a straight face. She was enjoying messing with them. 

Max stared at Nikki and was beginning to get annoyed, “Fuck you it was a great idea in my head!” He crossed his arms.

“Was it?” 

“Dammit, Nikki!”

Nikki looked at both boys and burst out laughing.

Max looked at Neil, and Neil just shrugged in confusion. 

“I'm just messing with you guys… well no not really... but it's over now and I'm glad!” 

“Jesus Christ Nikki,” Max smiled at Nikki and let out a small laugh, “Why are you like this?”

“I don't know… but you love me anyway!” Nikki threw her arms around Max. He didn't hug her back but he didn't push her off either, he just kinda sat there and let her hug him. 

Neil joined in on the hug and laughed, “Okay we were pretty immature” 

“I wasn't.” Max was still being hugged by both his friends and he broke the hug. “I'm very fucking mature.” He smiled.

They all laughed and layer back down on the blanket.

Max’s stomach growled, “I'm hungry.” 

“Me too actually,” Neil agreed.

“Then let's go see what we can eat-”

Nikki gasped excitedly and jumped to her feet, “CAN WE RAID THE MESS HALL NOW???”

Max looked up at Nikki and shrugged, “Sure… got nothing better to do…” Max got up and turned to Neil, “You coming?”

“Fuck yeah” 

They ran towards the mess hall and we're sadly caught by Gwen. But Gwen, being the amazing camp counselor she was, hit them up with some pudding cups... so it was all good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND THERE WE HAVE IT MY LITTLE SHITS! THE FINAL FUCKING CHAPTER! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
> 
> I really hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! this is literally the first fic I've ever actually published and it means so much to me that people are liking what I write.  
> But don't be sad! I will be back with a bunch more stories because YES! I am working on more fics for you guys to enjoy in the future so it's okay... I actually have a like two other fics that I'm working on at the moment and a few more in mind.
> 
> If you guys have any ideas for me to write about or suggestions you would like to see then feel free to let me know, I would enjoy writing them if I can! Catch me on here or my twitter @ItsMeAndyBoi, cuz I'm usually always on that ranting about my writing updates (cuz I know I've been slacking) and other weird shit I do... but yeah, let me know if you have any ideas for new stories, I'm always up for something new! 
> 
> Anyways, Thank you all so much for sticking with me and I hope you all have a Happy Fucking New Year! Comments and Reviews are always welcomed! See you all next time my little shits! I will be back soon with New content! Happy Reads XD


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